On 20 November 2018, the Head of the Office for Foreigners upheld the appealed decision regarding the placement of Lyudmyla Kozlovska’s data in the SIS II list of undesirable persons. The authority once again referred to “considerations of national defense or security, or the protection of public safety and order, or the interest of the Republic of Poland” as the proper premise for placing the foreigner’s data on the list. It was additionally explained that in the case of Lyudmyla Kozlovska, the matter concerns the threat to national security. In the opinion of the authority, “state security considerations”, in accordance with the provisions of the Act, sufficiently justify the refrainment from producing the factual justification of the decision under appeal.
Lyudmyla Kozlovska’s counsel is preparing an appeal against this decision which is going to be lodged with the Voivodeship Administrative Court.
To recap: on 13 August 2018, the President of the Open Dialogue Foundation was detained at a Belgian airport and deported from the EU as a result of her name having been entered into the Schengen Information System by the Polish authorities. Her stay on the territory of individual states in the Schengen area is possible thanks to short-term national visas issued by, among others, Belgium and Germany, so that Lyudmyla Kozlovska can participate in conferences and hearings about the state of the rule of law in Poland and the persecution of opposition activists in Poland.
Read also:
- The Kozlovska Case timeline [updated]
- Challenging the decision of the Head of the Office for Foreigners: Lyudmyla Kozlovska’s request for removal from the SIS has been re-submitted
- Poland uses SIS to prevent President of the Open Dialogue Foundation from entering the Schengen area
- Information on the inclusion of Lyudmyla Kozlovska in the SIS database by Poland
- Information on unprecedented attacks on civil society organisations in Poland
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